Which Cardiac Rehabilitation (CR) programme is provided?
Which components
The description of phase II components differs little between the countries:
- supervised exercise sessions with graduated circuit training
- educational programs including smoking cessation
- risk factor management
- food and physical activity counseling
- psychosocial support
Some examples are: The Netherlands, Egypt, Italy
Type of physical training
Exercise training in patient groups remains the cornerstone of most CR programmes.
In Israel, some centres have added sessions of respiratory muscle training, Tai Chi and Yoga.
In the United Kingdom many programmes also offer individual, home-based rehabilitation such as the Heart Manual programme for those not wishing or unable to attend group programmes, and more recently evidence has demonstrated the utility of web-based cardiac rehabilitation.
Length
The outpatient programme duration varies between countries:
- some provide short programmes lasting 3-4 weeks (Germany, Latvia, Russia, Slovakia, Italyand Bosnia and Herzegovina)
- others have programmes of 6-12 weeks (Malta, The Netherlands, France, Ireland and Sweden)
- a few have programmes exceeding 12 weeks (Estonia, Poland and Egypt)
Note: The content of this article reflects the personal opinion of the author/s and is not necessarily the official position of the European Society of Cardiology.